Blog

Pep Gaurdiola heaps praise on new Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti ahead of their New Year’s Day fixture. Don Hutchison explains why this will not be Manchester City’s year in the Champions League. Pep Guardiola says Manchester City are out of the title race with Liverpool 14 points ahead of them. Manchester City beat Everton for

At some point this season, Liverpool‘s supporters will be able to enjoy the ride that will, barring an unprecedented loss of form or some strange alignment of the stars in the night sky, take them all the way to the club’s first league title since 1990. But right now, despite enjoying a double-digit lead over

Nearly a decade ago, LeBron James turned the next step of his career into a television spectacle. “The Decision” drew 13 million viewers at its peak and ended with James announcing he’d be “taking his talents to South Beach.” With a bit more entrepreneurial thought (some might say vulgarity) Erling Haaland might have done the

The Exploding Heads present some baffling items available in Premier League club stores this holiday season. The Football Agents share their top charitable gift ideas for the players they represent. While Lionel Messi was reclaiming his crown as the world’s best player in 2019, Cristiano Ronaldo still managed to stun the world with his leaps

Stewart Robson slams the Premier League’s sense of superiority after continued VAR controversies. Wolves’ manager doesn’t think VAR decisions should be made miles away from where the match is being played. VAR may have gotten things right in Liverpool-Wolves, but Shaka Hislop says its implementation has been flawed. Where do you start with VAR? Seriously:

The New Year fireworks started early on Merseyside as Sadio Mane‘s finish lit up Anfield to secure a 1-0 win over Wolves and send the hosts 13 points clear at the top. The Reds were made to work tirelessly in an exhausting encounter as both sides threw the kitchen sink at one another. It was

Chelsea produced one of the Premier League comebacks of the season as they beat London rivals Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang headed the Gunners into an early lead and Arsenal seemed as if they were in full control for large periods of the game. In the final 10 minutes, however, the Blues sprung

Wolves score thrice to shock Man City 3-2 and keep Liverpool’s league lead at 13 points. Shaka Hislop says Man City players should be having a word with Benjamin Mendy after their loss at Wolves. Shaka Hislop suggests Liverpool have the makings of being one of the Premier League’s all-time greats. When Manchester City fans

The Football Agents share their top charitable gift ideas for the players they represent. Getty Images have selected their Top 100 sporting photographs of 2019, and we at Toe Poke have cherry picked our favourite footballing snaps from the album. The Toe Poke Daily is here every day to bring you all the weirdest stories,

It’s hard to recall the last 38-year-old striker returning from the U.S. to be fought over by serious European clubs. It’s true that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is special, yet he’s also part of a trend. The newly-crowned winners of the Ballon d’Or awards, Lionel Messi and Megan Rapinoe, are 32 and 34, respectively. Cristiano Ronaldo turns

Steve Nicol says Man City showed why they are one of the top teams in the league in a win over Leicester. Despite losing to Man City, ESPN FC’s Steve Nicol is quite confidence Leicester will still secure top four. MANCHESTER — Pep Guardiola has never lost back-to-back top flight home fixtures as a manager,

Liverpool have a fever, and the only prescription is more trophies. Since June, the team has won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. No English club has ever done that before. Only one English club (Manchester City, twice) has ever won more points than Liverpool claimed last season,

There’s a stock explanation behind Everton’s decision to pursue, and appoint, Carlo Ancelotti as their new manager. The Toffees are ambitious and willing to spend enormous amounts of money to achieve, and maintain, elite status. Given that Ancelotti has managed more elite clubs than you can shake a stick at — from Milan to Real

Sid Lowe believes Man City’s manager will be the center of attention in his team’s UCL clash with Real Madrid. ESPN FC’s Frank Leboeuf was left underwhelmed by Barcelona’s 0-0 draw vs. Real Madrid. Real Madrid failed to score for the second game in a row in a goalless draw with Athletic Bilbao at the

College football’s Big 12 Conference has long been associated with points. When Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops brought offensive coordinator Mike Leach to the conference in 1999 (and then Texas Tech made him its head coach a year later), the spread offense found a place to germinate and conference games have been high-scoring ever since. Offenses there

Alejandro Moreno says Chelsea need to figure out a way to get results when things “are not perfect.” Craig Burley says Wolverhampton made one mistake too many in a 2-1 loss to Tottenham. Frank Lampard already knows how to get the better of Jose Mourinho as a manager. Just two months into his first coaching

Pep Guardiola sends Mikel Arteta well wishes after he was appointed Arsenal manager. Craig Burley and Shaka Hislop react to the Carabao Cup semifinal matchups, including another Manchester derby. A couple of weeks into this season, fresh off a combined 198 points over the past two Premier League campaigns: I wrote the following words: “The

FC Barcelona fell at his feet. Again and again and again, from beginning to end. There was a moment late in Wednesday’s 0-0 clásico that summed it all up — a portrait of a player and the night when, for the first time in 17 years and 48 matches going all the way back to

It’s been 10 years since Barcelona ended 2009 with a record-breaking haul of six trophies, which also means it’s been exactly 10 years since the Spanish giants were almost upset in the Club World Cup final by Argentina’s Estudiantes de La Plata. With the game about to head into stoppage time, the Argentine side led